Mark writes:

Sajeev,

We can’t let Jeep get away with what they have done to the (redesigned Jeep) Grand Cherokee’s face. This square-peg-in-a-round-hole approach just looks half-baked, lazy, and cheap. Even the choice of filler material used to fill the void is wrong in material, color and pattern.

In short, Jeep’s design team needs to be raked across the coals for destroying what was Chrysler’s best-looking vehicle on the market, and I think you are the man to do the raking.

Sajeev answers: (Read More…)

“An almost 100% perfect copy of the Volkswagen Amarok, which is actually and only made in Argentina” has been spotted in China by Carnewschina. The Hengtian T3 will slot above the Hengtian T1. That one drew its design cues from Chevy trucks, now it’s Volkswagen’s turn to inspire. (Read More…)

The Chinese auto press now routinely whacks the innovation by replication that  is still prevalent in the Chinese car industry. An egregious case: Zoyte copied the Suzuki Alto nearly 1:1 for the Zoyte Z100, which is expected to debut at the Beijing Auto Show in April. Nevertheless, an unrepentant Zoyte was caught by Carnewschina testing the new Z100 side-by-side with the Alto (top. The cars are not being tested on ice. It is an attempt to obscure the location where the pictures were taken.) (Read More…)

Tycho, my Dutch friend in Beijing, scored the big one with his fake F150 story. After we wrote about it, everybody from  Motor Trend to Pickupinfo.ru wrote about it as well, taking the Carnewschina.com server on a shakedown tour. Tycho does what a good journo needs to do: Feed the beast. He found even better pictures of the pseudo Ford. And he found imagery of its older brother. Which is a Chevy copypaste. (Read More…)

Remember when Ford dragged Ferrari into the U.S. district court in Detroit, after Ferrari had the nerve to call their new Formula One racer the “F150”? Ford feared massive dilution of their F-150 truck mark and sued. Ferrari relented. Let’s see what Ford will do about this overdose of trademark and design patent infringement: (Read More…)

A month ago, our friends at Carnewschina spotted an odd creation in Kumming, a Chinese city that is famous for other products than cars. The owner of a hair salon (we don’t know what kind of a hair salon, some hair salons in China are famous for other services than hair cutting) was infatuated with the new Lamborghini Aventador. What he didn’t like was the $968,426 sticker price (MSRP, landed in China, taxes included, and yes, you did read right.) So the hairdresser called on the local roadside sheet metal fabricator, showed him a picture and said: “Can you make that?” (Read More…)